All I need is You

Over the past few days, I have been blessed with the opportunity to help build a house for a poverty-stricken family in Tennessee. They came home from a custody battle for their grandaughter to find their home burning to the ground. This town that my group was in, Copperhill, TN, is going down fast in this terrible economy. I spoke with a guy who told me that the only stability in their town is for those with state jobs. Everyone else is going bankrupt and losing everything. He said that the poverty level is considered to be $34,000 for a family of 4, yet he said that if anyone there made that much they would be overjoyed and think that they could take a vacation. Him and his family of 4 live off of $23,000 a year - they live off of his wife's job (which is a state one). His job? He is a youth minister at a local church..for free. He and his wife have been down an amazing journey, starting with having their first child when she was 16 and him 18. They were both convicted a few years ago and became believers. He knew that God was calling him to be a minister to the youth of his hometown, even if it meant barely getting by. This conversation really touched me and left me thinking. Every single person in this town has absolutely nothing according to the world's standards. They live in shacks and have rickety old cars that barely go if they go at all. They don't have fancy clothes, they don't even have a store to get fancy clothes from. They have their family and friends and a place that may keep them dry at night. Yet this man that I came in contact with never complained once about what he didn't have - instead he praised the Lord for what he did have, and the opportunity to spend time with us and to serve with us. I pray that I will always remember the people of this town and their dedication for serving others when they themselves need serving. I pray that I will always be thankful for what I have and never look at what I don't have...that I never take anything for granted.
Matthew 6:19-21
"Do not lay up for yoruselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yoruselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
I pray that my treasure will always be my God. I pray that I will always put Him first and remember that everything I need, he will provide me with - I can take nothing with me to the grave, but I will see my precious savior in Heaven one day and that's all that matters. I pray that I will have the strength and courage to continually add to His kingdom so that they too will be able to rejoice with me on that day for everything He has given us.